Generosity // A Worldview

Coming soon!

My name's Jonathan. I'm the lead pastor here at Destiny Church, so thankful that you guys are with us. Hey, before we get into today's word, man, I'm really excited about all these classes. I'm really excited about everything that we have going on at church, but I also wanted to catch you up on one thing that we've as a church have been working on the last two months. Some of you guys know that we've been raising money to replace the floors in the Destiny Kids building. And we've given you like sporadic updates as far as how things have been going. And I wanted to let you know that as of this week, we officially raised all the funds we needed to be able to install the floors, which is super exciting. And even better, they will be installed this upcoming week. They start Monday, they will be done Friday. So by next Sunday, it's really a bummer about trading spaces and you guys will actually be the first people on the new floors, which I wish, I almost delayed them, just so you could experience the old floors one more time. But this was just how the timing went. So, hey, do this for me. Stand with me as we read God's word.

 I wanna read a passage that we've read a couple of times as we've been in our generosity series to kind of frame our mind. Matthew chapter six, verse  says this, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness? No one can serve two masters, either you will hate the one and love the other, or you'll be devoted to the one or despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Father God, we just thank you so much for today, Lord. We lift up this time, Lord. We pray that as we get to hear your word and hear about the generous gift that you've given us, Father, Lord, that our eyes and our ears and our spirits will be open to encountering you this morning, that you would speak directly to us, that we can know your goodness and know the truth of who you are and the character that you long for us to share in and our unity with you. And we're just so thankful for that. It's in your holy name we pray, amen.

 All right, you may be seated, you may be seated.

 So we are currently in the generosity series. We've got a few more weeks that we're doing this for the rest of September, and we've been walking around and talking around and thinking about what it means to be generous. And some of you, this last weekend, you started our generosity course with us that we do mean on Wednesday nights. It was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the next one this coming Wednesday. And we've been thinking and looking at the lens of what biblical generosity means. And we've been reading and studying the concepts that Jesus taught about and what we see in the New Testament scripture. And so if you've missed any of the weeks, I encourage you to go back and either listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube channel and catch up. But we're gonna continue today because one of the things that we see when we read that scripture and we hear from Jesus, Jesus talks a little differently than we talk. We've read the scripture before and I referred to Jesus here whenever he starts talking about look at the birds and look at the flowers as hippie Jesus. This is hippie Jesus that apparently doesn't have bills, doesn't have problems and doesn't have concerns. And as much as I like hippie Jesus, when I try to apply it to my life, I'm just like, that's impossible. I have real things going on. Like I have bills, I have concerns, I have problems and I don't have feathers. And so all these things create issues for me that I've got to figure out. And yet I have to understand that what Jesus is speaking is not just a truth about God's word, but it's really a way to view the world around you. It's really a way to be able to have a worldview. And it's different than just a belief system. It's the way that you see. And he talks about it even in there, like you have your good eye and the bad eye. What do you see around you? Is it abundance or is it scarcity? And ultimately what Jesus is addressing in this process is he wants you to see his heavenly father the same way that he sees the heavenly father. And first of all is that God and the Son and the Holy Spirit are completely and fully generous. That everything about their character is generous. And that God is the provider, that he is our father and he is our provider. And whether you had a really great father figure on earth or whether your father figure was absent or poor, that we have a heavenly father who creates provision in our life. And so because of that, we don't have to worry. That we can see through the father and through the Son and the Holy Spirit, this generous idea that they together are this family of generous people in which the father gave the son, the son gave his life and the father and the son were able to give the Holy Spirit to us so that we could receive forgiveness of our sins. That all of this concept is a generous idea, that an ideal that we can see from God. But here's the thing,

 something that we have to understand is that when Jesus was sharing this sermon on the Mount and he was surrounded by these other Jewish men and women and children, and he starts speaking of this ideal of look at how God provides for the birds and look at how God creates in nature and look at who he is. Jesus is not just allowed to see the world this way simply because he's the Son of God.

 That is part of it because it's maybe easier, but actually everyone in this environment has the opportunity to see God. And they grew up in a way in which they were able to frame the vision of God and how they see God and the worldview that they took to him was very different. And so Jesus wasn't trying to share something that was impossible, Jesus was trying to pull on an ideal that his Jewish brothers and sisters would have been taught from the time that they were very young. And it's something that even if maybe you find yourself far away from that vision or that worldview, that it's something that through scripture and through the understanding of God's word and allowing it to shape our vision, you can begin to change your worldview to be more like that of Christ and more like those of the Jewish culture and how they grew up because that is the picture that we get to see and how Jesus taught. And so there's something that's really powerful in this idea. There's something you have to remember that Jesus, although he's % God, he was also % man, and he was born into a Jewish family. And some of Jesus's earliest memories, especially of scripture, was not grabbing up his old King James Bible and opening up and starting to study, that's not what Jesus did.

 The earliest memories of scripture would have been things that he encountered in his home when he heard his mother and Joseph singing scripture on a weekly basis or on a daily basis, reciting the Psalms or the Proverbs over their house, giving of blessing at every Sabbath meal. Like Jesus heard these things and his imagination was shaped by scripture. And not just Jesus, but everyone who grew up in the Jewish community and the nation of Israel, their imagination and the way they viewed things, their worldview was shaped through scripture. And I could really get derailed because I've been thinking about it, it may be something for next year, but the idea of what our worldview looks like and our cosmology and how we see things, because often we see the world through what our belief system is. And sometimes when we read and see how the Bible frames the world, we think, oh, well, I've got a different view because science and because chat GPT told me something differently.

 But there's a different worldview that we can see. And one of the beautiful ways that we can see it that unlocks it is not just through the study of scripture, but the study through specific types of scripture. And today we're gonna do something a little different. This isn't our normal thing, but today we're gonna take a look at a Psalm, Psalm , which falls into a broad category of what they call creation Psalms. So there's a big list of creation Psalms. Some of the more prominent ones are Psalm , , , , and , but  is maybe the most complete of these creation Psalms. And there's Psalms that have to deal with people who meditated on the creation narrative that was told in Genesis chapter one, and they allowed that to form their imagination. They began to write poetry in ideals referring to God. And if you remember, if you studied Genesis one, God has this kind of three tier of creation. You have the heavens, you have the earth, and you have the waters. And he gives information on all three of these tiers when you read through Genesis one, the heavens, the earth, and the waters. And this is like an important idea that we get to look at. And Psalms , we're gonna walk through it, and we're gonna allow something to read this poetry and help it inform and shape our imagination and shape the way that we see the world. Because when you look at the world differently, it changes your perspective. It changes the way you see things. It may not change the problems that you're dealing with, but it changes how you feel about the problems.

 You see, one of the greatest things that I've experienced, and I was able to have lunch with a buddy of mine who leads another church here in town this past week, and we were talking about stuff, and it was wild because things get busy. This is sometimes what happened, pastors, we went to OREU together. He's the pastor of a church called Cornerstone here in town, and we were having lunch, and we were like, when was the last time we had lunch together? And we were like,

 oh, six years ago.

 Wow, time flies.

 And so he was like, talk to me what's new. Tell me what's new. And we were talking about all sorts of stuff. And one of the things he remembered about the particular conversation that we had, because this was just right after I had transitioned to this role and I was trying to figure out what was going on and I didn't know what I was doing in my life, and I was talking with him, and he was like, hey, so when you took over, I remember that there was some financial issues with the church, and it was just like, finances were tight, and you were like really stressed out about it. How has that changed?

 And I sat there for a minute, and I was like, well,

 the finances are exactly the same.

 They have not changed in six, seven years.

 But, but I've changed.

 And I'm not the same, and I'm not stressed anymore.

 Even though I still get the same profit and loss statement, and I say, well, look at God.

 Won't he do a miracle every month?

 And I said, I'm a different person,

 because something has happened in the process of having my vision be changed. And that even though I'm looking at the exact same problem, the way that I filter that problem is different now.

 The way that I take that problem, the way that I respond to it is different now. And so I wanna read through Psalms . We're gonna read the whole thing today. You're gonna get a whole chapter of the Bible today. Aren't you excited? I know, you're really fired up today. It's gonna be really good. And we're gonna look through, and this is the Psalm, like this is in Jesus' imagination. This isn't the people. So when he starts referencing, don't you remember about the birds? This has been in their childhood. This has been in their growing up. So we're gonna read chapter , verse one. I'm reading out of the NIV,

 and we're gonna kinda go through, and I'll break it down a little bit. So I know some of you, listen, some of you are like real, like literature nerds, and you're poets, and like you understand things. And some of you are more like me, and you're like, I read things I don't understand. I often feel, I have two really incredible literature people in my life. My wife and my oldest son Diego are very gifted at literature. And often I feel, and this is, I'm not endorsing this show, I'm not telling you you should go see it, but it is really a great example. If you've ever watched "The Office," there's this one episode where Andy and Pam and Jim are in a movie club, and they're trying to be sophisticated about cinema. And the whole time that they're watching this movie together, Jim and Pam are talking about something totally unrelated to the movie, but Dwight thinks they're having these intents and like insights into this cinema, and he's like, I just don't get what they're talking about. I don't see what they're seeing. That is how I feel every time I read poetry. Like my wife and my son will be talking about, did you get this thing, and you get this thing? And I'll be like, mmhmm, mmhmm, mmhmm, mmhmm. Were we, did I read the wrong chapter of the book, or oh, it wasn't a book chapter? I'm very lost at this point. And they're getting all these excerpts, and so often I have to have my wife watch something or listen to something or read something, and then she can explain it to me like a small child, and that helps.

 And poetry sometimes for you, biblical poetry, because it's dense and it's rich and it's ancient and it may be tough, but we're gonna break it down and add a little bit of a logical approach, but that hope won't mess away from the beauty of the poetry. So here we go. Verse one, praise the Lord,

 oh my soul,

 Lord my God, you are very great, you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

 Just for reference, soul is this word, nafesh, is this idea of this internal thing that is created by you as a human being that you get to experience that the spirit, the soul that God has placed inside of you.

 And then verse two says, the Lord wraps himself in light, as with a garment, he stretches out the heavens like a tent. Now sometimes you can read that and you're just like, okay, that's crazy, I'm gonna move on.

 But we have to slow down sometimes with poetry and allow it to shape a picture.

 And the author, which by the way, the author of Psalms  is unknown, we don't know, people argue about it, it's really fun, you can let me know what your thought is.

 It says, the Lord wraps himself as light with a garment, he stretches out the heavens like a tent. This idea of God's dwelling place, the heavens, he doesn't mean like the sky where we see the clouds, he doesn't mean outer space. In the dimension in the realm of God, the heavenly realm, God is clothed not with clothing, but with something that the best description we can give is light. He is light and it radiates out of him. If you study Psalms chapter eight, another creation that talks about that he is clothed with the light and that all these different things in creation are very images or representations of the glory that God has, and yet none of them compare to the goodness that his throne room, that his kingdom, stretches out like a tent in the heaven, and God at the center is clothed with light, radiating for everything to see.

 This is the person of who he is.

 And it says, and he lays the beam of his upper chambers on their waters. If you studied Genesis chapter one, it talks about the waters above and the waters below, that there's a waters above that God is laying the very foundation of his heavenly realm into those things. It says he makes the cloud his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.

 He makes winds his messengers

 and flames of fire his servants. By the way, the word messengers there is angels. It's like he makes the wind his angels.

 That he's breathing and breathing and flowing all across this realm.

 It says he says the earth on its foundation, it can never be moved.

 The earth, it's on its foundation, it can never be moved, it is solid. It says you covered it with the watery depths as with a garment. The water stood above the mountains. What's it picturing there? What is it telling us? This is Genesis one. And the beginning of God who created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was formless and void, and it was the spirit covered over the face of the water. This is talking about before you spoke life into existence, the earth was there and it was covered in water, and chaos, and confusion, and wildness, and waste, and ruin. This is what it does. It was covered in everything. The mountains were covered by the water.

 And then it says, but at your rebuke,

 the water fled.

 At the sound of your thunder. This is actually really cool. In Psalms, a lot of times the word for thunder and voice are the same word for God. The thunder and the voice. The thunder and the voice. If you wanna read a really great thing, Psalms  verse three, it's this incredible poem in which they're playing with the word thunder and voice, and sometimes you're confused, like is this is God's voice, or is this the thunder, is this the voice, or is this the thunder? And it's both. God's voice is like thunder. That it's in the heavenly realm. It says that you rebuked the water with your voice that is like thunder. And it says, and they took flight.

 This is actually, when it says you rebuked the waters, this is the exact same phrase that Mark uses in his gospel of chapter four verse , when Jesus rebuked the waters in the storm, he said, "Peace be still," he rebuked it.

 The thunder of God, the voice of God, the creation power of who he is.

 And it says this,

 "They flowed over the mountains. They went down into the valleys to the place you assigned for them. You set boundaries that they cannot cross. Never again will they cover the earth. He makes springs pour out into the ravines. It flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the fields and the wild donkeys, and they quench their thirst." So I want you to give this picture. It says that God rebuked the water and God ended up being lured over the chaos and the confusion that was on this earth. And so he formed it and he says he gave it shape, just like we see in the creation there. So then he said, "This is your boundary and you should not pass it any further." And then once more, he says, "Not only did he take control of the water, he ruled the water and he placed it in the depths where it can come out of the ground and also makes it where it rains onto the mountains and flows down to nourish the world." This is not just like this thing of like, "Oh, these poor simpletons, they don't know how science works."

 So they just think that like this being is doing that. Like, listen, they understood cycles.

 They, we're gonna talk about trees and plants and things. They understood like agriculture. They were farmers.

 They knew seasons. They watched the rain. But when they saw the source, and this is important, the way they saw the world around them, is they said, "Look at God who's bringing waters to the heavens and allowing them to flow down."

 And every time we see waters, and this is an amazing thing, every time we see wells and water coming up by the ground throughout the Old Testament, every time we see streams of waters, every time we see about rain provision, this is all pointing to God, who's the master over the waters, which represents God as the master over the chaos and the violence and the destruction. And with his words, he creates boundaries in which they cannot pass. This is the God that we see. And so every time you see a little thing, it's like, "Oh, and Jacob dug a ground and he got a well." And you're like, "Oh, that's neat. I guess water's good." No, this is like, "And Jacob trusted God, the one who spoke word into existence, and he dug down and he found the provision of God right there, the water that brings life." Because water can represent chaos, but water also can represent life. Because the water that's been provided by God is for your abundance and for your surplus and for your goodness. And you know, it doesn't take a lot to say, "But why water, why water?" We can do without a lot of things for a really long time.

 But water, you can't do without for very long.

 Water, you can't do without for very long. And so,

 he says he creates this idea. And then verse , it says, "The birds of the sky nest by the waters. They sing among the branches. He waters the mountains from his upper chambers."

 From the upper room, the upper waters, it says, "The land is satisfied by the fruit of his work." The land is satisfied by the fruit of God's work. "He makes the grass grow for the cattle, and he plants the people to cultivate."

 Oh, sorry, and plants for people to cultivate. Bringing food, actually the word for food there is actually bread. He brings bread from the earth.

 The process of not just like whole loaves are coming, but like there's a process in which you tend and you go and you cultivate in your process and then you create. Why? Because you were creating the image of God that you are partners with him and he brings creation to you. So you take something that's in one state and you change it and create something different.

 That is the partnership in which you get to walk with God. And this provision,

 "Wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine."

 I know some of you, you make sure you oil that face. You gotta keep it shining. Some of you it's your night routine. Some of you it's your morning routine. Some of you it's all the time.

 And bread that sustains their heart.

 Verse ,

 "The trees of the Lord are well watered." Now you know I have to stop because you know I love trees. You know I'm stuck with trees. You know I can't get past trees. It says, the word of the word says well watered. It says they are satiated. They are full.

 It says the cedars of Lebanon, that key planet. No, it's not just the trees. The trees of the Lord. The trees of the Lord. The trees of Yahweh, the creator,

 are satiated. Why are trees satiated? Because trees, they don't get their water from what's around. Like yes, rain happens and all those things, but that's not where trees get their waters. Trees have roots that go deep into the ground. And you know what's connected deep into the ground is where that underwater provision of God is. Deep that they're there. Even though if it's dry around, they're connected to a different source that you and I cannot see, but trees are connected. They are deeply rooted into the foundation that God has for them, and they get to access something. Really, really beautiful.

 These trees, like I said, I get too stuck on trees. Trees always represent humans. Humans and trees are linked. The trees of Yahweh, the trees of God, the people. And here's what's really beautiful. We actually have a picture I'm gonna put up here, right? It's just a little sidebyside picture that is at the end, maybe the production team to find it. I didn't tell them because I was busy. But they'll figure it out. At the end, they'll maybe put it up on the screen.

 This is a picture.

 On the left is your lungs.

 On the right is your tree.

 You see,

 we don't live by bread alone, but by every word, every breath that comes out of the mouth of God. When God created man, He breathed the breath of life into you. Your lungs are what pull in the very life. The very being, the very ruach of God is what comes out. He breathes the spirit inside of you. And every breath that you take, you breathe deeply because the only thing you need more than water is air.

 You can go many days without food. You can go three days without water, but you can't go very long without air.

 And yet, with every breath,

 my person is connected to a source that others can't see, but is deeply filled with goodness. With every breath that I take, I'm breathing in a deep water reserve, which is why Jesus says, "You may thirst, "but when you drink from me, you'll never thirst again." That you can breathe in the very spirit of God and you can breathe in, and there's breath that continues. And you may be looking around your circumstances and say, "Man, it looks really bad around here. I've been there. There's lack, there's brokenness, there's issues, there's deception, there's lies, there's death and violence and destruction. Everywhere I look, this is my circumstances. But as long as there's breath in your lungs, if you're breathing, you are connected to a deep source that is not contingent on what you see around you."

 And so I breathe because I am the tree that's deeply rooted. I am the thing that's satiated in full, even when there's a drought, because the water that I'm tapping into is not the water that everyone sees, it's the water that's deep down.

 It's deep down, it's underground,

 which is why I hide the very word of God deep inside of my heart so that I cannot sin against Him, so that I can be like the tree that's planted along the river, that's watered in and out of season, that bears fruit in the time that God has called me to bear fruit. That is the thing that I get to walk through.

 And then notice what happens whenever you are well watered. It says, "The birds make their nests there. The stork has its home in the junipers. The high mountain belongs to the wild goats. The crags are for the refuge for the hyrax," which I don't know what that is. I read that it was like a mountain badger. I don't even know what that is. So you can figure it out, let me know.

 You see, the author of this, and the imagination says everything is, whether it's the mountains or the valleys or the oceans or the seas or the rivers or the trees, all these are places or domains in which God has created to produce a home, a shelter, sustenance, life. That is what God creates. He created everything for the enjoyment of each and every one of his beings.

 It says, "He made the moon to mark the seasons and the sun knows when to go down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl." I love verse , it says, "The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God."

 I love this picture. The lions offer up a petition, a roar, a voice to God, asking for provision and then seek the prey that God has provided for them. And then the very next thing, it says, "And then the sun rises and they steal away in return and lie down in their dens," because lions hunt at night, and it says, "And then people go out to their work and they labor until evening.

 And humans have their own time in the sun, and humans have their own prayers that they share, and humans have their own petitions to God, and God provides for them differently than the lions, but he still provides for them because we are in this place that God has created for us to coexist in the ruling reign.

 Verse , "How many are your works, Lord? In wisdom you made them all. The earth is full of your creatures."

 The earth is full of your creatures. I probably don't have time, but I'm doing it anyways. Proverbs chapter eight, like you can't, I was actually reading this just this morning. Verse , this is wisdom speaking in verse chapter eight of Proverbs. It says, "The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works before deeds of old. I was formed long ago at the very beginning when the world came to be. When there was no watery depths before the chaos, I was given birth. When there were no springs overflowing with water, before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth. Before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth, I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, and when he gave a sea its boundary so waters could not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence."

 All of creation speaks of God's wisdom. He created all of the things that we had through the power of wisdom, and you have the ability to be connected to the very wisdom, the same wisdom that was the thing that formed the earth, the same wisdom that God used to create everything that we see around us is access to you and your decisionmaking and your life choices, that is wisdom that teaches you good and evil. It is wisdom that allows you to make choices. It is wisdom that you get to invite and make your home, that you get to chase after like fine rubies, that that is the thing that we have access to through the very spirit of God.

 I like verse , it says, "There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number,

 living things both large and small.

 There are the ships, these things that we know that humans make." This is interesting. We know that ships were made by humans. Obviously, the author knows that ships were made by humans, like God didn't like manifest ships. And yet, because we are cocreators with God, all things come to exist through God.

 And it says, "The ships go to and fro." And then for some of you conspiracy theorists, here's your favorite verse. "And the Leviathan."

 Yes, that does mean sea monster.

 It's in the Bible, I can't change it. It exists. It says he's formed to frolic there.

 The Leviathan is frolicing. But do you know why it mentions it? Do you know why the Leviathan is brought out? Do you know why it's talking about that? In many different ancient cultures, the sea monster was the thing that ruled the sea. And what God is saying is, "Yeah, there's things in the depths that are scary." Which by the way, there's some really scary things in the sea. That's why I only go like ankle deep.

 Congregation Laughing

 No deeper, and only in clear waters.

 But God says, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they exist. And I'm over them too, just like I'm over the waters."

 They play around in there, it's fine.

 Gentle Music

 All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give to them, they gather it up. When you open their hand, they're satisfied with good things.

 When you hide your face, they're terrified. But when you take away their breath, they die and return to dust. But when you send your spirit, it actually is when you send your breath,

 they are created.

 And you renew the face of the ground.

 May the glory of the Lord endure forever.

 May the Lord rejoice in his works.

 He who looks at the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord all my life. I will sing praises to my God as long as I live. May my meditations be pleasing to him as I rejoice in the Lord.

 But may the sinners vanish from the earth. May the wicked be no more. Praise the Lord, my soul.

 Praise the Lord.

 Imagine if you grew up

 and this was the context of how you viewed the world.

 This is how you see. And at every time that you interact with nature, and at every time you interact with provision, and every time you interact with water, and every time you interact with bread, and every time you interact with seed time and harvest, and every time, like you sit there and it rains, and you say this is God raining on the righteous and the unrighteous, like, imagine if this is how you saw the world.

 That there's a God of abundance who has more than enough.

 And he keeps providing for all these different people and then I can just step into that abundance.

 And I know that as a culture, we have a different vision of the world because we understand things differently, which I don't think that's actually bad. I think it creates an opportunity to see God in another paradigm, another light that is just as true. But sometimes we try to negate some of these things as just old or antiquated, like, oh, they didn't know what they were talking about.

 But it's a worldview, it's a vision.

 It's a metaanalysis of how we can see creation.

 Because the things that we can understand is we say, oh, but we know a lot more. Now we know that the earth actually revolves around the sun and the sun is the thing, and the tides are controlled by the moon and all this kind of science. We're like, physics are really like, here's what's wild. Things that are scientific facts today, all of a sudden tomorrow, I no longer scientific facts.

 Those things happen all the time.

 I won't get too nerdy, but you know, quantum physics is changing everything that we understand about life and things that we said were absolute truth and scientific facts just a few years ago, all of a sudden they're like, about that. Actually, it's not.

 You remember when you thought there was four realms? Well, there was like  and probably more. We just can't say that. It's like, okay, my brain, I can barely understand D, okay?

 There's a view in which you can see God is the source of everything. There's a way in which you can look out and see abundance.

 There's a way that God can be the source of your provision. And when you see it that way, when you say, wow,

 this is who God is.

 Now all of a sudden you can sound just like hippie Jesus.

 Look at the birds.

 Look at them flying around.

 Look at them getting those worms. I mean, I feel bad for the worms, but I feel like they're not. Look at how they're just here.

 Look at how things thrive.

 Look at how things were set to order and they keep reproducing after their own kind.

 Look at how they're still harvest.

 Look at how it still rains. Look at how these things keep happening. Look at how despite the warnings and the fears of yesterday and everything, like look at how God still continues to be. Look at how God still continues to be. Look at how God still continues to be.

 Provide it.

 God, can I see you in my life?

 I've got some financial things that are really tough and I don't know how we're going to get out of it. And like I've got bills that are being due and I got bills that are past due and I got things that I don't know how we're going to save for. And I got expenses coming up that I have no clue how we're going to be able to pay or when we're going to pay a payoff. And God, I don't know if I'm going to work until my last breath and then pass that on to the next generation. Where I'm at, God, I see something that looks like a lot of lack, but I actually don't want to live like someone who's like instead, I want to live in a way in which you are my provider.

 So even if I don't see a way right now, can I tap deeply into the waters that you've stored up from the creation of time

 and that my heart be at peace even when I don't see it?

 God, I've got relationships that are broken. I've got children who are far away.

 I've got loved ones who mean more to me than life itself who are making decisions to run away from you and I know you care, but Father God, I want to believe that you are an abundant, providing Father who loves them more than me, that has them in your arms, that no one can snatch them from your grip and I want to actually live that way. Can I trust that you care more than me? Can I live that way?

 Can I live in a way that even when I'm dealing with health issues,

 that the doctors say there's no hope, there's no cure, there's no chance, and I've prayed and I still haven't seen your hand move. Can I still live in a way and believe that you are an abundant, providing God who gives me everything that I need?

 And when I grow weary,

 and when I get tired,

 and when I question all this, can I walk outside and look around and say,

 "If that bird's alive and there's breath in my lungs and there's flowers that have beauty beyond what even King Solomon had,

 then I believe that you can do for me what no one else can."

 And even in the waiting,

 and even in the tension of when my issue is not resolved

 and when there is still something that's missing, I can still say, "I believe you're good and you're providing all that I need because you are generous. And because you are generous, I'm going to continue to live generously and live in abundance and see abundance everywhere I go because my generosity is not dictated by what I see around me, but rather it's the very core of what I'm rooted to. So I have a deep source of generosity that flows into my lungs.

 And I get to speak generosity out of my mouth and I get to live generous within my time and I get to give freely because I see that God can give me exactly what I need in every moment and every time.

 The God who created the heavenly realm that I cannot see, whose tent expands beyond my imagination, whose clothes and light says, "Ultimately, all of that is splendor and great, and yet He cares about me."

 Even more than He cares for the sparrow.

 And yet not one of them passes away without Him knowing.

 How much more does He love you?

 How much more, church?

 I encourage you,

 if you say, "Listen, I'm hearing you,

 but I don't think I see the world like that."

 That's okay.

 The world would love to shape you in a way in which you see the world, the way the world wants to present it. And God says that He wants to shape you in a way that you can see the world the way that He meant for it to be.

 And the way that you get to do that, the way that your vision is changed, it's not going to be on social media, it's not going to be on Fox News or CNN News, it's not even going to be asking chat GPT, "How do I see more like God?"

 It's going to be found in the Scripture.

 It's going to be found on meditating on Him day and night. It's going to be found on asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate His truth. It's going to be found in inviting lady wisdom. "Can you rule in my life and show me how to see?

 Can I set aside these things that are holding me back, that are keeping me away from your goodness and your presence, and instead, can I press fully into the goodness and the grace that you have for me? Can my mind and my imagination be changed so that, yeah, maybe the world would say, "You are a fool. You don't know how the world looks."

 And maybe for some of you, that sounds like I don't want to be ashamed like that.

 But there comes a freedom whenever you realize, "My greatest heroes would be called fools today."

 And so if Jesus would look foolish in this world, then I'll look foolish in this world.

 Because I'd rather look foolish to the world and live like Jesus than look cool or educated or smart to the world and see the world different than my Savior.

 So, yeah, I now sound unhinged and like a hippie, because I'm telling you when you get stressed out about your work to go outside and look around,

 and to be like, "Wow, I'm here."

 Every morning that you wake up and there's breath in your lungs, you say, "There's another day for God to provide a miracle for me.

 There's another day. There's another moment. There's another breath."

 And I just keep breathing, and it just keeps coming because His goodness follows me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 Let's pray this morning, church.

 Father, Your love is so good today.

 Your word is so beautiful.

 Lord, whether it's the stories of Your faithfulness,

 whether it's the logic of Your goodness and truth,

 or whether it's the beautiful poetry that speaks of Your goodness and Your creation and Your magnificent glory.

 Lord, allow Your word to set our vision.

 Allow Your wisdom to guide our lives.

 Allow every breath that we take to breathe in the very Spirit of God

 so that our image can be made into Yours, one of a generous provider

 who desires for His children to lack no good thing.

 We see You, God. Let us see You in the wind and in the trees.

 Let us feel You in every breath that we experience in the breeze.

 Allow our hearts and our minds and our eyes to be transformed by You.

 We love You so much, Father.

 In Jesus' holy name we pray. Amen. Amen.

 Church, one last thing. If you need prayer for anything, our prayer team is going to be down here at the end. They would love to pray with you and agree with you. If you have questions about what you heard today, if you are feeling a stirring and you want to make a decision for God and you want to be led in a prayer, they would love to do that for you. Other than that, we love you very much. You are officially dismissed. We will see you next weekend. Have a great rest of your Sunday.